The Bayshore Freeway (part of U.S. Route 101) traverses MenloPark northwest to southeast near the shoreline and somewhat parallel to it to the southwest is El Camino Real. The intersection of El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue is considered the heart of the city. Nearby, the MenloParkCivic center is bounded by Ravenswood Avenue, Alma Street, Laurel Street and Burgess Drive. It contains the council offices, library, police station and Burgess Park which has various recreational facilities. Other major roads include Sand Hill Road in the Sharon Heights area.

The residential areas of MenloPark can be unofficially divided into several neighborhoods. From "east" (northeast toward San Francisco Bay) to "west" (southwest toward the Pacific coast), they are defined by the Palo Alto Weekly as follows:[11] Belle Haven is the only neighborhood east of Route 101; much of the rest of that area is business or protected land. Between 101 and the roughly parallel Middlefield Road are the neighborhoods of the Willows, Suburban Park, Lorelei Manor, Flood Triangle, Vintage Oaks, and South of Seminary (the seminary being Saint Patrick's Seminary). Between Middlefield and El Camino Real are the Caltrain track and Felton Gables, Linfield Oaks, and Park Forest. West of El Camino until the foothills of the Peninsula are the neighborhoods of Downtown MenloPark, Central MenloPark, and Allied Arts (sometimes also known as Stanford Park, it is named for the Allied Arts Guild in it). In the hills are Sharon Heights and Stanford Hills. Several other neighborhoods are closely associated with MenloPark but are actually in unincorporated San Mateo county; these include Menlo Oaks and Fair Oaks (latter part of the North Fair Oaks census area) between Bayshore and Middlefield, University Heights (also known as West MenloPark) between Sharon Heights and most of the rest of the city, and Stanford Weekend Acres which is somewhat near Stanford Hills.

In 1851 two Irish immigrants, Dennis J. Oliver and his brother-in-law D. C. McGlynn, purchased a 1,700-acre (690 ha) tract of land on the former Rancho de las Pulgas.[13] In 1854, they erected a gate with a wooden arch bearing the inscription "MenloPark" and the date "August 1854" at the entrance to their property (now the intersection of Middle Ave and El Camino Real).[14][15] The word "Menlo" derived from the owners' former home of Menlo in County Galway, Ireland, and is an Anglicized version of the original Irish name of the place, Mionloch, meaning "middle lake."[13]

In 1863, the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road had built the railroad from San Francisco to as far as Mayfield (now California Avenue station in Palo Alto) and started running trains to the area.[16] They named a nearby station "MenloPark" after the sign.[13] The 1867 station building still stands on the platform of the current Caltrain station, used by the local Chamber of Commerce. It holds the record as the oldest, continually operating train station in all of California.[17] The town of MenloPark grew up around this station, becoming a popular home for San Francisco businessmen.[13] A post office arrived in 1870, and the city was incorporated in 1874 (it would dissolve after two years but would later be permanently incorporated in 1927).[14][11] The original arch which gave its name to the stations and ultimately, the city, survived until 1922, when the original arch was destroyed in an automobile accident.[13] The origin of the name of MenloPark, California (ca 1850)[15] pre-dates any work done by Thomas Edison (ca 1876) in MenloPark, New Jersey; MenloPark, New Jersey was named after MenloPark, California.[18]

In 1917/1918 a large portion of MenloPark was the site of Camp Fremont, a training camp for, at its height, 27,000 men being sent to fight in World War I. It didn't last long (the camp was dismantled after the war), but army engineers paved the first streets in MenloPark and laid the first water and gas lines.[19][20] The army did retain the camp hospital, and it is now the site of a Veterans Administration hospital off of Willow road in MenloPark. In the autumn of 1918 a flu pandemic hit Camp Fremont and killed 147.[21]

At the start of World War II, the US government bought the 260-acre (110 ha) estate of Timothy Hopkins from his widow and created the Palo Alto General Hospital later renamed the Dibble General Hospital (after Colonel John Dibble who was killed in 1943). After the war ended, some of the land was sold to the city and became the sites of the main library and city hall. More of the land was bought by Stanford University to house the increase in students due to the G.I. Bill; the area was known as the "Stanford Village," which existed as student housing until the mid-1960s. This land also was the site of the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) starting in 1947; between 1955 and 1968 SRI bought the rest of the Stanford Village.[22][23][24]

In the 1960s, the former 600 acres (240 ha) estate of Frederick W. Sharon (1859–1914) (son of Senator William Sharon) and his wife, Louise Tevis Breckinridge Sharon (1858–1938; daughter of Lloyd Tevis and divorced wife of John Witherspoon Breckinridge), in the hills of south west MenloPark was developed and called "Sharon Heights."[25][26]

The Census reported that 31,181 people (97.4% of the population) lived in households, 599 (1.9%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 246 (0.8%) were institutionalized.

There were 12,347 households, out of which 4,112 (33.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,163 (49.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,039 (8.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 371 (3.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 642 (5.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 102 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,672 households (29.7%) were made up of individuals and 1,371 (11.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53. There were 7,573 families (61.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.20.

In terms of age 7,805 residents (24.4%) were under the age of 18, 1,817 people (5.7%) aged 18 to 24, 9,563 people (29.9%) aged 25 to 44, 8,263 people (25.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,578 people (14.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.

There were 13,085 housing units at an average density of 1,336.6 per square mile (516.1/km²), of which 6,927 (56.1%) were owner-occupied, and 5,420 (43.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%. 18,972 people (59.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 12,209 people (38.1%) lived in rental housing units.

As of the census[30] of 2009, there were 33,690 people, 12,543 households, and 7,248 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,441.3 inhabitants per square mile (1,328.7/km2). There were 14,026 housing units at an average density of 1,432.7 per square mile (553.2/km²). 64.2% spoke English, 19.5% Spanish, other Indo-European 4.2%, 4.6% Chinese or Mandarin, and other language 0.7%, as their first language from estimate census 2009.

There were 12,543 households out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.67% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city, the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.

As of the 2000 estimate census, the median income for a household in the city was $82,609. Males had a median income of $77,766 versus $59,101 for females. The per capita income for the city was $51,341. About 5.9% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those over age 64. As of 2009 the median income for a family was $123,251.[31]

On the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, MenloPark is split between Supervisorial District 3 (west of El Camino Real) and Supervisorial District 4 (east of El Camino Real).[33] represented by Don Horsley and Warren Slocum, respectively.

As of 2012, Facebook announced it would be the biggest employer in MenloPark at 6,600 employees.[42] According to the city's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[43] the top employers in the city were: